Chennai | Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin attacked the TVK government, alleging that free ration rice was being polished and sold at Rs 30 per kg under the guise of fine-quality "Sanna Raga Ponni" rice across cooperative outlets in the state.

Reacting to complaints from consumers across Tamil Nadu, the DMK leader accused the state administration of transparency failures and questioned the procurement process.

"The government announced that fine quality Ponni rice could be bought for Rs 30 at cooperative outlets to counter rising rice prices. But people across the state complain that regular free ration rice is merely being polished and sold under this label. In the Cumbum region, when people confronted a TVK MLA over this polished rice, the MLA fled the spot," he claimed in a social media post on Saturday.

He further pointed out that out of 2.28 crore family cardholders in Tamil Nadu, the supply was restricted to just 250 locations with a cap of five kg per family, while complaints continued to pour in.

Drawing a comparison with past governance, Udhayanidhi recalled that when essential commodity prices surged in 2007, former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi introduced a transparent special public distribution scheme via open tenders to provide palm oil, dal, and pulses at subsidised rates.

Demanding full accountability from the ruling administration without any "polishing," he asked: "When did this government float tenders to procure fine Ponni rice? Which companies won the bids, at what cost did they supply it, and how much subsidy is the TVK government actually passing on to the public?